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Tournament Central

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The No. 1 Grand Valley State Lakers begin NCAA Tournament play this Friday (Nov. 9) as they host eight-seed Rockhurst Hawks at 2:00 PM in the opening round of the 2018 Midwest regional. As the top seed in the Midwest, the Lakers could host all the way through the Elite 8 should they advance that far.
 
GVSU is 20-0-1 on the year, one of three undefeated teams in Division II, and enters the NCAA Tournament on the heels of a 14^th consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season championship and 12^th straight tournament title. Ava Cook earned tournament MVP honors for her four goals across the three matches, giving her six in her last four overall.
 
The first team All-GLIAC performer has led a resurgent offense that has also seen dominating performances from Tara Lierman and Riko Sagara while freshman Darline Radamaker continues to grow into her role in the now stacked midfield. Defensively, the Lakers pitched two shutouts in the final rounds of the GLIAC Tournament and dominated possession to continue their season-long trend of being a top-5 defense in the nation.
 
Rockhurst, who enters the NCAA Tournament at 11-7-2, qualified for the tourney by winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Tournament to earn an automatic bid. After blanking a quality McKendree team, 2-0, in the quarterfinals, they used penalty kicks to advance past Southern Indiana to then beat Bellarmine, 1-0, in the finals. With a pair of quality wins under their belt last week, the Hawks may be one of the hottest teams entering the Midwest regional.
 
"It will take our best Friday in order to find success.  Rockhurst is playing really well right now and is familiar with the NCAA tournament," said GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler. "Moving the ball and getting our midfielders in positions to be dangerous themselves will be important, while also finding balance in our flank play." 
 
Stephanie Ostrander leads the Rockhurst attack, scoring 12 goals this season to go along with five assists. Jillian Leetch has provided a team-high seven assists. The Hawks haven't lost by multiple goals since their fourth match of the season back on September 7, so even when they've lost they've been highly competitive.
 
The young Lakers squad faces new challenges this week as they enter win-or-go-home mode for the first time. For a team that has risen to the challenge time and again, they hope to continue that trend – and continue their season – as they start tournament play.